In Qiong province, the southern breeding base of Gia Valley.

Jiagu laboratory is different from general laboratories in that there are many experimental studies that cannot be carried out indoors, and must be equipped with corresponding outdoor planting test plots.

Qiong Province, due to the unique climatic conditions that can meet the growth and reproduction of plant cycles in winter and spring, has gradually developed into the largest R&D base of Jiagu Laboratory and the largest breeding base of new varieties in Jiagu. Moreover, the area of the test plot of Jiagu Laboratory is still growing steadily, and has risen to 9,000 acres so far.

How many research projects of the Jiagu Laboratory have been undertaken here, Qi Zheng is not clear. But as far as he knows, in addition to the cultivation and improvement projects of new varieties of food crops such as "super rice" and "super corn", there are also many biological "black technology" projects - the gum tree that can synthesize hydrocarbons similar to gasoline through photosynthesis, the castor bean, which can obtain as many as 175 kinds of petrochemical derivatives after deep processing, the energy grass that sows green grass in spring and harvests ethanol in autumn, and the switchgrass that can naturally synthesize degradable "bioplastics......

Of course, most of these projects are not yet practical, such as switchgrass, which can grow "bioplastic" component PHA, and in laboratory evaluation, the quality of PHB must account for more than 20% of switchgrass to fully meet the requirements for commercialization, and the current PHB content of switchgrass is only 10%.

That's it, it is inseparable from the help of the spiritual array - the "three-star gathering spirit array" of spiritual energy purifying the body and the "green bamboo lark array" that moisturizes and grows.

Because the resonance frequency of the spirit circle is mainly locked to food crops, other creatures will only evolve slowly within the two spirit arrays, such as "plastic particles" that will slowly accumulate inside the mutated willow grass leaves, but this is tantamount to artificial cultivation.

Qi Zheng learned about the progress of key research projects in the R&D base under the introduction of Chen Jianzhang, and finally came to a key protected grove base. A small tree about two meters tall with smooth bark, nearly oval leaves, and yellow spherical capsules...... This is the third generation of Jatropha jatropha from Jiagu Labs.

"This is a highly poisonous plant, its stems, leaves and skin contain a huge poisonous juice, once the human skin is stained with this poisonous juice, it will be seriously irritated and allergic, and what is even more terrible is that eating its three fruits is enough to kill. Chen Jianzhang explained the reasons for the key protection.

It is precisely because it is poisonous that people hate it, fear it, and give it a nasty name: jatropha tree.

But in Qi Zheng's eyes, it is an out-and-out "treasure tree": "This name is really sorry for its use!"

Chen Jianzhang nodded and said, "So we prefer to call it a small tung tree." ”

"According to existing research, an ordinary jatropha tree can produce up to 500 kilograms of jatropha per acre, and of course, in most cases, the yield per mu will not exceed 300 kilograms. The oil yield of the kernels is not bad, and about 0.3 kg of diesel can be extracted per kilogram of jatropha nuts. ”

"But our third-generation tung trees have an average kernel oil yield of 80 percent, and at least 0.5 kilograms of diesel can be extracted per kilogram of fruit. In addition, the stems, leaves, and bark of the small tung tree contain a large amount of toxic protein white**, as well as the oil cake after refining diesel, and can be extracted and developed biopesticides and bio-organic fertilizers. ”

Qi Zheng was extremely satisfied with the fact that he could increase the oil yield by more than 60%, and immediately asked, "What about the average output?"

Chen Jianzhang said: "The yield is also good, the average yield per mu of adult small tung trees is 650 kilograms during the peak fruit period, and the maximum yield can reach nearly 800 kilograms!"

Qi Zheng sighed twice, isn't this good? It's simply against the sky.

Although this is the best performance carefully cared for in the test base, even after large-scale promotion, the performance will inevitably not be much worse, and it is certain that the maximum yield will exceed that of ordinary varieties.

What's more, the increase in yield and oil content did not affect other excellent traits of the tree.

Chen Jianzhang folded his hands and calculated: "It is drought-tolerant and can survive three consecutive years of drought; it is barren and can tenaciously reproduce in the most barren and desolate places; it has a strong natural regeneration ability, and it is resistant to fire, it is easy to create artificial forests, and it also has the effect of cultivating soil and preventing erosion; and its fruit picking period is as long as 50 years, and it can serve mankind ......almost for a lifetime."

"There's a head!" Qi Zheng quickly made a decision and seriously considered: "We can add new members to our biofuel business, well, should we go it alone or find someone to work with?"

As the saying goes, grain merchants who don't want to engage in energy are not good oil companies.

As far as a country's three major survival factors (water, food, and energy) are concerned, Jiagu's investment in food production is direct, and its investment in water resources is intangible—whether it is the implementation of ecological agriculture, pollution control projects, or the diversion of water from Lake Berga to the northwest, or the transfer of rain across the sea, all of which are invisible to outsiders but contribute greatly.

As for energy, Jiagu is gradually increasing its investment. After all, whether it's a steam locomotive roaring on the railroad tracks in the smoke of the steam age, an incandescent lamp that brings light to millions of homes in the electric age, or an Internet highway connecting the world in the information age, the demand for energy is unprecedented.

The world's four major grain companies all have grain energy projects, ADM is the world's largest bioethanol producer, and even in China, Guoliang Group is investing heavily in corn ethanol projects.

However, this practice of equating grain with energy is, fundamentally speaking, "competing with others for food", and it is difficult to say whether there are more benefits or disadvantages for the country and the people.

On the one hand, it is to use agricultural and animal husbandry waste to achieve environmentally friendly clean energy production, and it has begun to bear fruit, and on the other hand, it chooses to use energy plants such as jatropha trees, and does not compete with grain for arable land, and "grows" energy in places that are not suitable for food growth.

In this step, Jiagu walked very cautiously and steadily.

Haven't others noticed the value of jatropha trees?

Of course not.

In 2006 and 2007, when the price of oil rose rapidly, it set off a wave of "jatropha planting" in the country - 2 billion US dollars, 4 billion yuan, 2.347 billion yuan, 2 billion yuan...... Baker Biofuels of the United States, Sunshine Technology Group of the United Kingdom, CNOOC, PetroChina and other companies have announced high-profile investments in the planting of jatropha trees.

At that time, the jatropha tree had also entered Jiagu's eyes, but what was Jiagu doing?

In the selection and breeding of jatropha trees!

Jatropha has been wild for a long time and has great potential for genetic variation and genetic improvement. Chen Jianzhang and others believe that the biggest obstacle to the realization of the industrial development of jatropha is that the yield is too low, so the seed setting rate and kernel oil content are used as the selection criteria for the excellent trees of jatropha and are improved from generation to generation, and the cultivation of excellent varieties with high oil, high yield and multiple resistance of jatropha and advanced planting technology are carried out.

Another three or four years have passed, and the cultivation of jatropha varieties in Jiagu Laboratory has come to the third generation.

Well...... In less than a year, the actual investment of 2.6 million yuan by the American Baker Biofuel Company evaporated, leaving 20,000 acres of jatropha base in a dilemma for the local government; while the British Sunshine Technology Group could not reach an agreement with the Chinese side on the amount of capital contribution, and the investment plan was finally aborted; at the same time, PetroChina and CNOOC did not make the expected progress, and the project stalled.

There is a saying - I haven't made a move yet, but you are hanging, how lonely life is......

But before Qi Zheng could feel the invincible loneliness, Chen Jianzhang woke him up: "My suggestion is that it is best to cooperate with energy companies to develop." ”

"Oh?"

Chen Jianzhang said calmly: "Although we have made breakthroughs in the cultivation of excellent varieties and planting technology, we are not good at biofuel preparation, key equipment development, and relevant standard formulation. And ......"

He pointed to the black soil in the jatropha test field and said, "That's cinders." The third improvement trait that I haven't mentioned yet is that the third generation of small tung trees has a wider range of growth, it is no longer limited to growing in tropical or subtropical areas, and in addition to cooperating with deplasticizing bacteria to 'devour' garbage, it can also 'devour' waste cinders......"

"Watts?"

......